East Meets West

东成西就2011

Hong Kong/China, 2011, colour, 2.35:1, 99 mins.

Director: Liu Zhenwei 刘镇伟 [Jeff Lau].

Rating: 6/10.

Parodistic, pop-culture romp by Hong Kong director Liu Zhenwei [Jeff Lau] is good but not consistent.

STORY

Guangdong province, China, the present day. Onetime member of The Wynners pop group, Zhong Zhentao (Zhong Zhentao) summons his goth-punk daughter Zhong Xiaoming (Mo Wenwei) from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, where he’s been reduced to working as a zombie in a funfair’s Haunted House. He tells her his young, shopaholic wife Fang Jiabao (Huang Yi), a former schoolmate of Zhong Xiaoming, is on the run from super-rich Guangzhou businessman Zhou Chong (Chen Yixun), for whom she promised to arrange a reunion concert of The Wynners but whose advance of RMB500,000 she’s already spent. After escaping Zhou Chong’s men, Zhong Zhentao and Zhong Xiaoming fly to Guangzhou to track her down in Art Capital, a wannabe entertainers’ squat, where they’re mistaken for talent managers by aspiring singer Yan Chengyu (Tan Weiwei), a wealthy CEO’s runaway daughter. After being told by Zhou Chong that he’s holding Fang Jiaobao hostage at his offices, Zhong Zhentao and Zhong Xiaoming race over in a taxi but en route knock down improverished mute chef Zheng Daxiong (Zheng Yijian) and his young son Xiaofang (Zhong Shaotu). In the accident, Zheng Daxiong is revealed to have super-powers in the same way as Zhong Zhentao and Zhong Xiaoming were while escaping from Zhou Chong’s men in Shenzhen. Yan Chengyu, after being brought back to her father by his toadying employee Xiaobing (Fang Zuming), also shows super-powers when her father beats her. It turns out that they, and others, are all human incarnations of the seven Heavenly Dragons who have been fighting a timeless battle against the eighth evil one, Yaksha; only when all eight unite in peace can they return to their job of leading mankind along a righteous path. Meanwhile, Zhong Zhentao and Zhong Xiaoming do a deal with Zhou Chong for Fang Jiabao’s life, arranging a fake reunion concert of The Wynners. Zhong Xiaoming, however, has secretly fallen for the ruthless Zhou Chong, who has a secret agenda.

REVIEW

The ideas trip over each other and pile up like a car crash in East Meets West 东成西就2011, another mixture of the fantastical, sentimental and parodistic from the fertile, pop-culture imagination of Hong Kong film-maker Liu Zhenwei 刘镇伟 [Jeff Lau]. A martial arts extravaganza set in present-day Guangzhou, it’s partly in the vein of his The Eagle Shooting Heroes 神雕英雄传之东成西就 (1993), a costume swordplay parody of The Legend of the Condor Heroes 神雕英雄传 by martial arts novelist Jin Yong 金庸, and in its dialogue also vaguely references another novel by the same author, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 天龙八部. It’s also another of Liu’s madcap ensemble comedies full of retro tributes (here to 1970s boy group The Wynners 温拿 and its star Zhong Zhentao 钟镇涛 [Kenny Bee], plus fleeting cameos by everyone from singing groups du jour to Zhong’s seven-year-old daughter Zhong Yi 钟懿.

For non-Chinese (and especially non-Hong Kong audiences), Liu’s films really need running footnotes to explain all the jokes and references – and here even more so than his previous movie, Just Another Pandora’s Box 月光宝盒 (2010), which at least parodied a well-known modern classic, Red Cliff 赤壁 (2008). But at their best Liu’s movies can also be enjoyed just as madcap comedies – and for at least its first 30 minutes East Meets West is up there with his best. Generously spoofing his own career, Zhong, playing a version of “himself”, proves a likeable lead, and Mo Wenwei 莫文蔚 [Karen Mok], as his short-fused, goth-punk daughter, an equally fine co-lead. As the characters and lunatic plot unfold during the opening half-hour, Liu’s gift for elevating Cantonese ensemble comedy via pan-Chinese pop-culture references rolls along just fine.

After that great start, the rest of the movie isn’t quite on the same level of invention, spending too long on a side romance between Mok’s grrrl punk and the too-young-looking villain of Chen Yixun 陈奕迅 [Eason Chan], and way too long on a finale in which the main characters are transformed into feuding super-heroes. Some, like the mute chef of Zheng Yijian 郑伊健 [Ekin Cheng], aren’t properly developed; others, like the Lady Gaga-like shopaholic of Mainland actress Huang Yi 黄奕, are a waste of good talent. But Liu’s ability to switch from pantomime to melodrama at the drop of a hat does produce some touching moments near the end, largely centred on Mo’s love-betrayed character.

Production values, while not quite up to those of Pandora’s Box, are very smooth, and visual effects fine in a pulpy way. The rich music track, as always in Liu’s films, plays a key role, with everything from classical music to highly effective use of the 1967 song Happy Together. The four-character phrase, dōng chéng xī jiù, which makes up the film’s title (and is also the handle to The Eagle Shooting Heroes‘ Chinese title) roughly means “Everything Is Possible” – which pretty much sums up Liu’s free-wheeling approach to plot and characters. The English title sounds good but is actually meaningless.

CREDITS

Presented by Dadi Media (CN), Distribution Workshop (HK), China Film Assist Media (CN), CashFlower Communication (CN). Produced by Distribution Workshop (HK).

Script: Ji An [Liu Zhenwei]. Photography: Huang Baomin, Lin Huaquan. Editing: Mai Zishan [Marco Mak]. Music: Huang Yaoming, Lei Songde [Mark Lui], Yang Zhenbang. Music direction: Ou Xue’er. Art direction: Lei Chuxiong. Costume design: Liu Tianlan. Sound: Cinedigit Sound. Action: Li Dachao. Visual effects: Zheng Wenzheng (Centro Digital Pictures). Artistic consultation: Zhong Zhentao [Kenny Bee].

Cast: Chen Yixun [Eason Chan] (Zhou Chong/Charles), Mo Wenwei [Karen Mok] (Zhong Xiaoming/Sammi), Zheng Yijian [Ekin Cheng] (Zheng Daxiong, chef), Huang Yi (Fang Jiabao/Scarlet, Zhong Xiaoming’s stepmother), Zhong Zhentao [Kenny Bee] (Zhong Zhentao, Zhong Xiaoming’s father), Su Yongkang [William So] (Wen Qi, Guangzhou taxi driver), Tan Weiwei (Yan Chengyu/Jade), Deng Lixin [Stephy Tang] (female Yaksha), Fang Zuming [Jaycee Chan] (Xiaobing), Li Zongsheng [Jonathan Lee] (Yan Dongze, Yan Chengyu’s father), Lin Erwen (Hong Kong convenience-store employee), Zhong Guoxiong (QQ), Lin Yifeng (convenience-store pest), Back Dorm Boys (Haunted House visitors), Zhong Yi (young girl visiting Haunted House), Han Dong (Ekin), Ye Hanming (gangster chasing money), Yang Mi (Yang Mi), Zhong Shaotu (Zheng Xiaofang, Zheng Daxiong’s son), Reborn (hospital nurses), Fan Yichen, Xue Zhiqian, Zhang Bo (hospital doctors), Tang Yan (Qiao, Zheng Daxiong’s ex-wife), He Meitian (Zhou Chong’s secretary), An Hu (Lu, Qiao’s cousin), Fang Lishen [Alex Fong Lik-sun] (Zhou Chong’s assistant), Chopstick Brothers (fraudsters in car accident), Qiao Renliang (Ju, gang leader), Soler (thieves), Liu Yuqi (Xiaosu), Shui Mu Nian Hua (reporters), J.A.C. (Japanese policemen), Tomo.com (Japanese fishmonger), Huang Tingcong (manager), Wang Zizi, Tian Long, Liu Ge, Zhu Qi (TV crew), Wan Jun (manager), Ma Tianyu (backstage supervisor), The Flowers (The Flowers), Tan Yonglin [Alan Tam], Chen You [Anthony Chan], Peng Jianxin, Ye Zhiqiang (The Wynners), Li Na (dancer), ME-Ga (ME-Ga).

Release: Hong Kong, 24 Nov 2011; China, 24 Nov 2011.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 16 Apr 2012.)